CLUSTER STRUCTURE OF ALPHA-PARTICLE NUCLEI

The lower bounds to the ground state energy of a system of N alpha particles interacting via a potential determined by alpha-alpha scattering experiments is compared with the energies of nuclei with 2N protons and 2N neutrons. It is concluded that the ground state of doubly even nuclei with an equal number of protons and neutrons heavier than 20Ne as well as the first excited 0+ states of 12C and 20Ne can in principal be represented as systems of rigid and structureless alpha particles. The amount of the distortion of the alpha particles inside these nuclei is estimated by comparing the neutron separation energy from the nucleus and from the alpha particles. © 1969.